The U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) plans to eliminate up to 50% of its 9,600 employees in the latest round of job cuts for federal agencies. The General Services Administration (GSA) is also facing a possible 50% reduction in its workforce, as government officials have announced they are looking to cut the agency’s budget in half. Plans to meet that goal were due today, according to news sources.
HUD is responsible for national policy and programs that address America’s housing needs. The department provides affordable housing for lower-income families, the elderly and people with disabilities. It also administers fair housing laws.
Antonio Gaines, president of the union representing HUD workers, said the agency was planning to reduce the workforce by half, including cuts to the offices that enforce civil rights laws, compile data about the housing market and pay the rebuild communities after disasters. The Federal Housing Administration, which provides mortgage insurance on loans, will be excluded, according to reporting from Bloomberg Law.
This purge of employees had been promised by President Donald Trump, who signed an executive order on Tuesday for federal agencies to start preparing to “initiate large-scale reductions in force.” The first round of cuts targeted federal employees recently hired and still on probationary status. The length of probation varies between agencies, but can last between one and two years. By March 2024, it is estimated that about 220,000 federal employees had been on the job for less than one year and another 288,000 had between one and two years of service.
A focus by the Trump administration has been eliminating all contracts or positions that are involved with programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. According to NPR, HUD employees were asked to assess the importance of contracts and whether they were involved with promoting these initiatives.
Scott Turner, the newly confirmed head of HUD, had said that his administration would closely examine all agency programs and policies to root out inefficiencies and lower housing costs. He also identified programs involved with diversity, equity and inclusion as among those that would be under a microscope.
During his first term as president, Trump had proposed major cuts to HUD’s budget, but they did not pass Congress. But in his second term, Trump has been emboldened to tackle reductions in the size of the federal government. Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s conservative policy agenda and an apparent blueprint for Trump’s policies, calls for reigning in HUD’s “bureaucratic overreach” and transferring many of its functions to other agencies, states and localities.
